Most of these are logistical /​ operational things on how I can improve my own experience at EAG
Too much talking /​ needing to talk too loudly
Carry an info card /​ lanyard which has blurbs on my role, organisation & the projects I want to talk to people about and ask them to read it before we start our 1-1. (This is probably a little suboptimal if you need to actively get people super pumped about your ideas)
More walking conversations in quiet areas. This year the EAG had a wonderful second location with an indoor conservatory that was peaceful, quiet and beautiful. Everyone I brought there really liked it because it was a refreshing break from the conference. If there isn’t something like this in future EAGs I’ll try to find a good ~25 minute walking route on the first day of the conference.
Shop talk vs socializing during 1-1s
I feel quite conflicted on this
One one hand, it makes sense especially when doing more open-ended networking (e.g. this person does climate stuff, I feel it’s useful to meet them but not sure how exactly it would be useful). Hopefully, the info card saves some time.Shop talk is absolutely exhausting and I feel that I’m not at full capacity for at least 50% of EAG.
It’s sometimes hard to know which people you should meet in person if there are say 20 all equally good people but you only have time to meet 5 in person. Don’t know if there’s a good decision-making heuristic there
If I had to guess, it’s more important to meet people less connected to the community /​ at the first EAG
And sometimes more engaged people you haven’t met just to establish an in-person connection
Maybe 5-10 minute connections can just be a good thing to do to create a touchpoint with people
I would basically have all conversations be socializing, and then reach out to the shop talk people after EAG to set longer and more intentional discussions that are probably going to be more productive.
Make new EAs feel more comfortable
I was very impressed with the EAG newbies I met—they were about 10x more organized and proactive than I was at my first EAG.
But because they were doing all this AND it was their first EAG, they were also (very!) nervous /​ anxious. While I tried to help them feel more at ease, I don’t think it helped much.
I feel like this is probably a very difficult issue to make traction on individually, but I want to reflect more on this.
An official conference length of 2 days isn’t enough time.
I don’t think anything can be done on this front, but thought I’d mention it anyways
Ideally I’d like to have 2 days of conference and 2-3 days before/​after for more relaxed socializing
(very) Quick Reflections on EAG 2021
Most of these are logistical /​ operational things on how I can improve my own experience at EAG
Too much talking /​ needing to talk too loudly
Carry an info card /​ lanyard which has blurbs on my role, organisation & the projects I want to talk to people about and ask them to read it before we start our 1-1. (This is probably a little suboptimal if you need to actively get people super pumped about your ideas)
More walking conversations in quiet areas. This year the EAG had a wonderful second location with an indoor conservatory that was peaceful, quiet and beautiful. Everyone I brought there really liked it because it was a refreshing break from the conference. If there isn’t something like this in future EAGs I’ll try to find a good ~25 minute walking route on the first day of the conference.
Shop talk vs socializing during 1-1s
I feel quite conflicted on this
One one hand, it makes sense especially when doing more open-ended networking (e.g. this person does climate stuff, I feel it’s useful to meet them but not sure how exactly it would be useful). Hopefully, the info card saves some time.Shop talk is absolutely exhausting and I feel that I’m not at full capacity for at least 50% of EAG.
It’s sometimes hard to know which people you should meet in person if there are say 20 all equally good people but you only have time to meet 5 in person. Don’t know if there’s a good decision-making heuristic there
If I had to guess, it’s more important to meet people less connected to the community /​ at the first EAG
And sometimes more engaged people you haven’t met just to establish an in-person connection
Maybe 5-10 minute connections can just be a good thing to do to create a touchpoint with people
I would basically have all conversations be socializing, and then reach out to the shop talk people after EAG to set longer and more intentional discussions that are probably going to be more productive.
Make new EAs feel more comfortable
I was very impressed with the EAG newbies I met—they were about 10x more organized and proactive than I was at my first EAG.
But because they were doing all this AND it was their first EAG, they were also (very!) nervous /​ anxious. While I tried to help them feel more at ease, I don’t think it helped much.
I feel like this is probably a very difficult issue to make traction on individually, but I want to reflect more on this.
An official conference length of 2 days isn’t enough time.
I don’t think anything can be done on this front, but thought I’d mention it anyways
Ideally I’d like to have 2 days of conference and 2-3 days before/​after for more relaxed socializing